This weekend, I had a moment to stand with a man with whom I have previously had a contentious relationship. The last time we spoke, he had been rude to myself and to others, snide in his comments and outlook. All of this is to say that running into him again wasn't my choice or in the plans.
However, when it unexpectedly happened, something changed. He is fresh off having a surgery on his stomach and is obviously weak and in pain. He is trying to stay optimistic, but his eyes betray something else. As I stood there, seeing this weak, disheveled man in front of me, I remembered my own surgeries, my own struggles with staples in the skin, and waking up in the middle of the night in pain, praying for the willpower to get to your feet and into the bathroom. At that moment, everything changed. Instead, we fell into conversation. I focused on encouraging him and letting him know that he wasn't alone. That he had people behind him rooting for his recovery. A bit later, after the air had grown light with humor, he mentioned that he had been divorced to his wife of 27 years. He said "There are these little things that I miss that I never thought I would. She used to come in the bedroom in the morning brushing her teeth and it used to make me mad. Why couldn't she just stay in the bathroom instead of waking me up... But now, no matter when I wake up, I miss it." And that struck me deeply. It isn't just the little things like that in our relationships with our partners, children, friends, siblings, and parents; although it is especially prevalent there. But it also can resonate in the rest of our lives. The truth, at least how I see it, is that within the little moments lies the sweetness. In those little moments, the big things reveal themselves. Sometimes, it's just a glance. Just a moment that causes you to fall in love. Maybe one movement of her eyebrow reminds you of how much you care for her. It could go on and on. There are more versions of it than there are people. This conversation reminded me of what I try to practice everyday. It's attention to the details of sweetness, of love. By noticing all of the beautiful things, by never forgetting to say things like "I love you" or "I appreciate you", it comes more and more into my life everyday. While I can't assume to prescribe something for all of mankind based on my own singular experience, I would at least ask you to consider attempting what I'm talking about. Try it out. It absolutely can, in my experience, change your life.
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This is a prayer for America...
My dear friends, to all who will listen, I say unto you... It's time to push back. It's time to push back against the ones who enslave you with their lies, who keep you frightened and divided. To the oligarchs who collude, who travel in the politics of outrage and hate, whose only end is personal gain. It's time to push back against those who weaponize your body and your mind. Who take innocence and discard it like trash along a darkened highway. It's time push back against those who claim dominion over your actions, your moralities, your privilege, or your right to speak your truth. It's time to push back against mind games and the cognitive dissonance we are asked to endure. It's time to push against the bullies of the world, to let them know that they hold sway no longer. How do we push back? With love. With love. With a smile. A conversation. With understanding. With kindness. With gratitude. How do we push back? With love. With equality. With passion. With the truth. How do we push back? With love. But you must love yourself first... You know that dream you had?
The thing you wanted to do? The thing that you've been putting off? The thing that you think the ship has sailed on? It's not too late. It's not too late to become undistracted, to cut through the fog of everyday life and remember who you are at your depths. It's not too late to remember your youth, your exuberance, your passion - when you believed that you could take on the world. It's not too late to wake up each morning and feel true excitement and joy. It's not too late to feel real love and connection. It's not too late to feel the exhilaration and rapture of passion, the serendipitous moment where everything grows silent and the silence resounds with power. It's not too late to start a new adventure, to shake off the mundane, the dust gathered on your soul and to feel truly alive. It's not too late to go on an adventure, to run in the rain, to turn up the music in life and to dance like a whirling dervish. It's not too late to let the greatness within you shine into the world, creating a beacon for all to see. To create a light so bright that it ignites the spark in others. For at the end, as we pass from this world into the next, the only thing that we can leave behind is our light, our love, and the memory of how passionately we lived our lives. Whoever you are. Wherever you are. If you can hear this... It's not too late. |